Author: Jenny Balboa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

After an almost seven-year imprisonment, former senator Leila De Lima was released on bail in November 2023. In her speech, she thanked the Marcos administration for respecting the rule of law. De Lima’s choice of words is not accidental. It was a loaded statement to fan the growing political wedge between the Marcos and the Duterte families — the UniTeam Alliance that won by a landslide in the 2022 Philippine elections.